Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a carrier sheet for a plurality of information carriers that can be fastened to the top side of the carrier sheet, which information carriers can be marked by means of a marking device, in particular a marking laser. Moreover, the invention also relates to a marking object with a corresponding carrier sheet and at least one information medium.
Description of Related Art
In industrial and commercial practice, different types of information media, which in most cases are also referred to as identifying and marking signs, are used for identifying and labeling machines, devices, clamps or cables, to which is applied information relative to the components to which the information media are assigned. To this end, the identifying and marking signs are usually provided in a marking device with a corresponding marking pattern, in general alphanumeric characters. In this case, the marking can be done in particular by means of a printer, for example a laser printer, an inkjet printer, or a thermal transfer printer, with which the respective information is imprinted on the information medium. Metal signs are frequently also used as identifying or marking signs, in which the marking can also be done by a corresponding engraving with an engraving machine.
Moreover, for several years now, marking lasers in which the surface of the information medium that is to be marked is directly exposed to a laser beam have also been used as marking devices, so that the marking is not done by printing but rather by treating the material of the information medium. Depending on the material of the information medium and depending on the wavelength of the laser, in this case, the marking can be done by staining (carbonization), foaming, engraving, or material removal. In the carrier sheet according to the invention or the marking object according to the invention, the marking of the individual information media is preferably done by means of such a marking laser, without the invention, however, being supposed to be limited thereto.
For marking the individual information media, the latter can be inserted individually into a corresponding receptacle in the marking device. This has the advantage of a very great flexibility, since information media of different sizes can be used; however, the relatively large amount of time required for the exact positioning of the information medium within the treatment region of the marking device is disadvantageous in this case. Moreover, the parameters for the marking process in general must be input manually by the user.
If a plurality of identical or similar information carriers are to be marked, in practice carrier sheets on which a plurality of information carriers are applied are often used. By using such carrier sheets, a larger number of information carriers can be marked in a shorter time; however, for this purpose, the flexibilty in relation to the use of different information carriers is reduced. The fastening of the information carriers to the top of the carrier sheet is in this case done in general by means of an adhesive layer, which is applied either to the top of the carrier sheet or to the bottom of the information carrier. In this case, the adhesive layer is designed in such a way that the information media cannot be easily peeled off again from the carrier sheet after the marking process. In this case, however, it may occur that adhesive residue will remain on the carrier sheet or on the information carrier, which can be disruptive in the case of further use.